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6 Ways Your Business Can Benefit From Having a Mobile App

Introduction In today’s digital era, having a robust online presence is vital for building your business reputation and increase brand awareness, no matter what size your business is or what industry it belongs to. In today’s day and age, having a website for a business is as crucial as having an office or telephone number for a business. A website gives your business credibility and customers the impression that you mean business. Most of the consumers use the web to search for local businesses and research products before purchase. A website serves as one of the techniques of driving more clients, sales, and overall value for your business. Since the mobile era is here, there is an increasing number of mobile users today than desktop users. Whereas web usage isn’t going away anytime soon, there is an exponential rise in mobile users as the day goes by. In the age of smartphones, where digital presence is imperative, and businesses are thriving on the digital model, having a website is no longer enough. Establishing a mobile presence is critical for every business, as modern-day users are on the move and utilize smartphones for their day-to-day activity. One of the main questions that come to mind when companies think of mobile presence is whether you need to create a mobile app or mobile website would be enough. Difference Between a Mobile Website and a mobile App? A mobile website is similar to any other website designed based on HTML pages that automatically scale to fit the screen size of your viewer’s device. Nowadays, responsive web design is becoming the norm as they are not only mobile-friendly but can scale to any digital device – from desktop to smartphones. Whereas, Mobile App is a software application primarily designed to be used on smartphones and tablets that’s needs to be downloaded and installed on the mobile device for users to access it. Alternatively, mobile apps can be used without access to the internet. Mobile apps are user-friendly, offer integrated functionalities, enable businesses to provide personalized user experience, and in return offer far more value in terms of customer loyalty. According to a report published by Statista, the number of mobile app downloads worldwide in the year 2020 is around 218bn, and this report would portray some significant insights on how mobile apps are playing a vital role in the digital sector. It is no longer a question of whether businesses need a mobile development strategy-undoubtedly businesses need one. Choosing what is best for your business, whether to build a mobile app or mobile website, all boil down to end goals. In comparison, some businesses employ both mobile websites and apps, whereas other businesses may choose one. Whether you decide to build a mobile app or go with a mobile website depends on many factors: budget, business objectives, target audience, usability, required features, technical requirements, and so on. Generally, when businesses think of establishing a mobile presence, the first step in doing so is to develop a mobile website. In contrast, mobile websites don’t seem to be enough to produce optimum levels of engagement and productivity. Mobile apps are crucial for a business to stay ahead of the competition. And if your business doesn’t have an app, you are actually missing out on many growth opportunities. Develop customer loyalty Mobile apps make it easier for businesses to retain customers by understanding user preferences and feedbacks. With features like a loyalty program, special offers for app users, promo codes, coupons, loyalty discounts, and referral programs help entice the user to stay active on the app. And is an effective way of building a community of customers. Loyal customers drive direct revenue and also serve as a marketing channel to boost sales. Stand out from the competition In order to stay a step ahead of your competitors, mobile apps are crucial. Many small businesses have not yet developed an app, and this is where you can take a giant leap ahead of your competitors. Offering one of the first mobile apps in your niche will definitely put you forwards in the market. Let us look at some of the key benefits of developing mobile apps Increased engagement and interaction Apps are purpose-focused and are task-specific. Users usually prefer apps as they are simplified and easy to use version of a website that offers them a convenient way to browse, shop, and interact with a brand. Mobile apps allow the user to receive push notifications and in-app notifications for product launches, instant updates on promotions, coupons, and deals that help drive better engagement and interaction of the customer and thereby increasing brand loyalty. Better personalization Mobile apps allow businesses to gather more information about the user in real-time, such as user’s behavior, interests, location, demographics, and more. Ultimately, this data helps businesses provide a personalized user experience. In turn, this increases customer engagement and enhances conversion rates. Better branding Mobile phones are an integral part of our everyday lives, and the user spends a substantial amount of time on mobile devices. And, this usage can be leveraged by businesses to create better brand awareness using mobile apps. Eye-catching UI design, logo, brand color, and valuable interactive function can help your app stand out and, in turn, drive better brand awareness. The presence of an app on the user device, even if the user is not actively using the app, is helpful to influence the user’s perception of a brand subconsciously. Increase efficiency As mobile apps are custom build to accommodate your business requirement and tailored to suit your working style, these apps can be employed to perform diverse functions. Enabling businesses to automate their working process and increase employee productivity. Conclusion With technological advancements today, mobile apps are very relevant, and their usage in business is quickly becoming a trend. Regardless of what industry you belong to and what business you do, mobile apps can consistently generate new customers and retain old ones.From the marketing perspective to

Explaining Cybersecurity to the C Level

Learn how to communicate cybersecurity risks & solutions to top-level executives and Gain insights on key concepts, industry trends, and best practices to stay secure

Charity Phishing

Introduction Cybercriminals love the holidays, through social media platforms like Facebook, phishing has turned to digital social networks and prior stolen information to prey on unsuspecting victims. Sparity has provided many presentations with the term “data aggregation”. Essentially, this means pulling together various types of information about you from both opensource (public) and purchases on the dark web. Relationship analysis is conducted on social networking sites that rely on data aggregated shared by you and your friends. Social Media – Data Aggregation Step One: “Fake Friending” In order to deceive their victims, cybercriminals use email and social media invitations and start by creating fake profiles on Facebook. Their profiles often feature stolen images of real people dressed in professional attire for the sake of credibility. Using automated programs, the scammers spam hundreds of Facebook users with friend requests. When a fake profile is ‘friended,’ it lends the scammer credibility within your personal network. The scheme needs only one person from your network to accept a fake profile friend request in order to appear within your social circle. Your connections will see this “friend” and decide that they must be trustworthy. Facebook users are more likely to accept requests from the fake profile based on your connection. Now the social media target is exposing their own personal information to the scammer. Step Two: Information Gathering Once ‘friended’ the cybercriminal or cybercriminal unit will analyze all the information that their victims put on their Facebook profile. In intelligence terms, this is known as assessment. Facebook centralizes all of your personal data on one profile, so the scammer has access to all of the details that you would only share with close family and friends. Details such as hobbies and activities what books or movies you enjoy, where you shop and donate money informs the threat actor about your interests. Details like those above give the scammer powerful knowledge about their target’s interests, which in turn are used to create an effective con. Step Three: Mirroring Threat actors will customize their fake profiles to mimic the interests of their target. This technique, called “mirroring”, gives victims a false sense of familiarity. It’s a real-world technique often portrayed in spy movies and to some degree, they are based on reality. This technique may use the victim’s natural sense of empathy or friendliness to lower their targets guard in a situation where they would otherwise be alert. For instance, the threat actor may claim to have attended the same university or have a similar degree from another college. They may even like and comment on the things that you like in order to build rapport. Some victims even report that threat actors will engage in small talk or send chats for weeks or even months before asking for money. All of this is done in order to bypass the victim’s critical thought processes and build a false sense of trust between the victim and the scammer. Step Four: The ask Once the rapport between the threat actor and the victim is established then they make a “pitch.” Here comes the holiday charity pitch – a fund drive for an organization that is need of donors. Often so detailed they will show misleading website links that ask for large sums of money in exchange for gift cards, awards or 6 months delayed vacation vouchers. At this point in time, the cybercriminal knows enough about their target to appeal to their personal interests. They may simply rely upon the goodwill of the donor and just ask for money outright. If the victim is resistant, they will say that time is running out or that there are only so many awards to go around and distribute to the donors. Step Five: The Bank Account Once the victim has taken the bait the scammer will then ask them to wire transfer money to a bank or third party like Western Union but never an online transaction. After the money is wired over its too late. The cybercriminal will vanish as quickly as they appeared, and leave the victim without any real information to trace. The profiles and names that the scammer impersonates are either fake or stolen there is little that local police can do to track the scammer down. Sadly, there is little that victims can do to recover their money. Banks will often refuse to replace the stolen money because the funds were voluntarily wired. Conclusion After talking with the victim for days and weeks, the cybercriminal now has all the information they need to specifically target friends and relations across several platforms. They may have spent hours unsuccessfully talking to the first contact but they did earn connections. Now instead of a storm of connection requests on social media, there will be a target or group-specific set of a phishing email. This is just one example of how your company can fall prey to cybercrime. With over 80% of the professional workforce in remote locations, it is more important than ever to make sure you maintain both a good security posture and an active cybersecurity training program.

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